Our
first A.G.M. has come and gone, and proved to be a very pleasant day out.
Apart from the odd hiccups like the abusive club steward, and the ups and
downs of the A.G.M. things went very smoothly.
The 30 or so
members who attended the meeting could not of failed to be impressed by
all the slide shows. Mr.& Mrs. Cox put on a good A.V. presentation on
Russia, Bill Crumplin shook us all with his show on a screen 25ft wide.
Pete Roberts from Canada showed some beautiful slides taken trecking in
the Canadian mountains, and Bill Reid showed some nice slides of the
American Railways.
On
static display there was a super show of Margery Meadows Wild life
Cibachromes, Colin Powell had his auto solution heater on display, and
T.F.M.- (Kevin & Mrs. Craske) had a good display of trade items we
could buy.
Many
thanks to Bills family for making and serving the super refreshments It
was a delightful sight to see Bills youngest daughter lifting plates up to
a counter higher than herself. They must have put in a lot of effort to
produce that lovely spread of food.
Over
the years there has always been a lot of controversy over pH meters. They
are very costly items to buy, and the probes which go into the solution.
They are very fragile.
Some
of the arguments in the past have got quite heated, and I do not want to
add fuel to the flames, so what a pleasant surprise to find a very
professional meter displayed at Didcot by Tony Chuter of Area 18. Tony is
willing to produce meters for members at £40 a tin, which is little more
than the cost of the components. Probes Cost about £35 extra. Having
bought and tested Tony’s sample. I can vouch for its quality.
There
is a lot of debate as to whether a meter is essential or not. Some think
that if you mix your chemicals to the formulae they will turn out near
enough right. Others are of the opinion that chemicals, and water vary in
purity and it is necessary to test and correct any variation between the
brew you buv made and the recommended pH for the formulae .
It
seems to make sense to me that you test
any new formulae that you make up, and any mix made with a new batch of
chemicals. On the other hand I can see no
reason for testing every repeat batch of solutions made. Working on
this principle my results have been very consistent in the past.
The
meeting was well worthwhile and I am looking forward to the next one, hope
you will come and join us.
Some
of the new publicty material is done. and we hope to soon circulate it to
all members. Could you please make an effort to place a poster in any
place that it can be seen by photographers, i.e. Libraries, Public Halls,
Photo shops. It is a long time since we had new members, and it would be
nice to have some in the younger age bracket, it would help to ensure
continuity of our membership. There are also some handbills, which we hope
you can pass on via a counter or to friends I am sure we can rely on your
help.
Best wishes,
Ron Croad.